Behavior Detection in Forensics The United States Marine Corps (USMC) has deployed behavior detection techniques for years, most recently in counterterrorism actions. Marines are taught the techniques during their Combat Hunter Course so that bad guys can be detected before they can do bad things. “Left of bang” means before the bad things happen; “right of bang” means that bad things have already happened, ...

And How to Create one The author discusses why one needs an elevator speech and how to prepare the elevator speech. If you have such a speech, how is that working? ...

A Run-Down on What is Changing President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) presented to him by Congress on December 22, 2017. Debate on the provisions of the bill dominated the last quarter of 2017. It was first presented on November 2, 2017 by Texas Congressman Kevin Brady, chair of The House Ways and Means Committee. Two weeks later, November 16, the House passed the Bill and forwarded ...

Case Study of a Real Estate Developer For most lost profits cases, the losses begin at the date of the harmful act and end when the injured party is returned to the position it would have had “but for” the alleged damaging act of the defendant. However, not every lost profit matter is a breach of contract where beginning and ending dates can be easily defined. Sometimes losses may not occur until a period i ...

Book Review by Michael D. Pakter, CPA, CFF, CGMA, CFE, CVA, MAFF, CA, CIRA, CDBV In this article, Michael D. Pakter, writes a brief review of Michael Gregory’s latest book, Business Valuations and the IRS: Five Books in One. ...

To a Key Employee—Part II of II In this second part, the author provides readers an illustration of the decision-making and allocation issues. These include issuing options, phantom stock, and converting the existing entity. Read Part I here. ...

Healthcare Reimbursement Environment, Part II of VI In the January/February 2018 issue of The Value Examiner, the author provides readers with an overview of the U.S. healthcare reimbursement system and details the due diligence process as it relates to reimbursement. This brief article is an excerpt, which is part of the series on healthcare reimbursement, where the author provides more in-depth explanatio ...

Remaster the Employee Mindset The author discusses ways to engage staff and develop the inner-entrepreneurial spirit. ...

To a Key Employee—Part I of II The author encourages, as a starting point, owners of a closely held company to consider numerous issues with regard to the compensation of key employees. If the closely held company operations are successful, valuable and long-term employees sometimes seek to be compensated through an equity ownership in the company. This key employee desire for equity ownership has practical ...

Refocus and Prioritize The author contends that almost every business owner or manager is an absentee owner or manager, regardless the amount of time they spend at their business. ...

While valuation may generally be part art and part science, rebutting and/or defending a valuation introduces additional types of art and science. The stakes are often higher because interested parties are affected by the contested valuation’s outcome, and the narrative can become more nuanced due to conflicting views on a variety of issues. This article endeavors to cut through the clutter and provide prac ...

What it is, How it Can Help You, How to Get Started The author discusses the purpose and value of signature content. ...

My Testimonial Experience Prior to Taking the Witness Stand One unintended consequence of writing unimpeachably neutral expert reports is that often nobody wants to hear what you have left to say. After having spent nearly two years working as an expert witness, authoring an uncounted number of expert reports, subpoenas, discovery requests, deposition questions, and cross-examination questions, I had yet to ...

Debunking Myths and Getting the Numbers Right The author discusses various methods used to trace property; techniques that are used in connection with marital dissolutions. ...

For Financial Reporting Purposes In this article, the author revisits the Market Participant Acquisition Premium (MPAP) issued by The Appraisal Foundation and reiterates the findings regarding what is a premium and what that means. ...

Case Law Update February 2018 In this case law update, we review one U.S. Tax Court case that provides guidance regarding when is a bad debt business loss deductible and whether contributions of money to a business is equity or debt. In addition, we present several Delaware Court cases; one of them, a post-dissolution case where one NACVA member (and another inactive member) testified and the court addresse ...

Factors to Consider Finding the Right Mediator Mediation is a dispute resolution process that is now more popular than arbitration. Many contracts require parties use mediation, if a dispute arises; and courts have adopted the use of mediation to help reduce the number of cases headed to trial. Yet with all this popularity, there remains a significant problem with using mediation: getting the "wrong" mediat ...

In Closing New Business Deals Client education can have a huge impact in accounting and professional service firms’ content marketing efforts. By providing prospects with increasingly valuable pieces of educational content, you can not only attract them to your firm, but also nurture them as they move into and through your sales funnel. ...

Understanding Terms and Bridging a Potential Valuation Gap It is not uncommon for litigation to stem from disagreements over the value of privately held companies and ownership interests in those entities. In those situations, many different values are often discussed as the parties attempt to reach a resolution. It is important to make sure that the parties are speaking the same language as far as the type ...

or a Ball and Chain In this article, the author discusses his views on how to value a funeral home. ...